Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
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4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Last week, hours before the American Idol finale nearby in downtown Los Angeles, I met mine.
Since my childhood, I don't think there has ever been a popular figure I revered more than Vin Scully, but despite years of attending games and occasionally hovering around with the press, despite my all-too-occasional paeans to him, I had never so much as come within shouting distance of the man. But finally, I had an assignment to interview him.
I don't want to come across like a schoolgirl (or schoolboy), because it wasn't that I was nervous about meeting him. Talking to famous people is something that happens from time to time in my line of work, and though it can excite me, it doesn't really unnerve me. What I felt was simply an ongoing disbelief, despite the fact that thousands upon thousands had already had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, that this one was finally happening for me. It was a big deal. This wasn't just a celebrity. This was Vinny.
And if that's all that were going on that day, that would have been surreal enough. But during the time this interview was coming together, I was contacted by folks at Bombo Films, the producers of an upcoming independent documentary about the Dodgers. Long story short, a brief conversation turned into them accompanying me, camera in tow, so that they could interview and film me before, after and during my meeting Scully. The day would be truly otherworldly.
From my office at Variety, I drove down to Dodger Stadium, the cameraman in the passenger seat filming me and the director/interviewer where my eldest son's car seat normally rests. We arrived at the ballpark and moved on to the Top Deck, where I rambled on about the Dodgers and caught a rare midweek dose of the sun while mentally counting down the minutes to meeting Scully. And they stayed with me as I made my way to the press level and met Dodger public relations vice president Josh Rawitch, who told me that Vin had read Dodger Thoughts (though I still didn't quite believe it) and expressed amazement that I had never met him.
We went into the press box, and I awaited for 3:15 to arrive.
Vin's voice is larger than life, truly. I expected a muted version of his unforgettably dulcet tones, but even off the air, he resonates from you to me. I shook his hand, and he led me first to his broadcast booth for a quick glimpse, before we settled in the press dining area for the interview (at which point the camera was turned off). At first I was told the interview would be 10 minutes, which forced me to ration my questions on the spot - questions more specifically for Dodger Thoughts or my upcoming book would have to be pushed aside - but I was able to earn an extra 10 minutes or so on the back end.
The interview didn't generate any earthshattering news, though I did get some answers to questions I've had over the years. You'll see some of this when the article comes out in June. I also got to see Vin in moments that confirmed to me both his lucid sense of the world and his romantic one.
Resisting the urge to entrap him for the next several hours, I thanked him and bid him farewell, and off he strode back toward his principality above and behind home plate. I sat back down at the table, and the Bombo guys came over for the postscript. In footage that should only be destined for the cutting room floor, I beamed. I didn't really try to find profound perspective in the moment. I just savored it at a level of minimal coherence that you just have to believe meant well. I was asked what I would want to tell my kids about this moment, and I replied something to the effect of, "I met the person that I always wanted to meet. Except you, of course. And your mom." Once a reviser, always a reviser.
I'm more than a bit embarrassed thinking how I must have come off, but what are you gonna do? You take the tradeoff.
When the whole festival was over, I went down to the field to hang out with the working press during batting practice. I talked to Ken Levine, Josh Suchon, Bill Shaikin, Dylan Hernandez and Tony Jackson, and the ones who asked why I had come, I told I was interviewing Vinny. I mostly expected these Dodger Stadium regulars to think it was nothing special, but instead, they all nodded and smiled knowingly. There's only one person who would tell you that meeting Vinny is nothing special, and that's the man himself. For the rest of us, he remains nothing less than greatness.
* * *
So now I've met both giants of Los Angeles, albeit under very different circumstances. I met John Wooden for a minute each of three consecutive picture days at John Wooden Basketball Camp back when I was Lisa Simpson's age or thereabouts.
I'm intending to see them again on June 13, and maybe some of you will too. Tickets for Scully & Wooden: For the Kids are still available, though I don't know how many. No doubt in jaunty fashion, T.J. Simers of the Times will interview the pair on stage about their lives and thoughts. Proceeds from the event will go to the Pediatric Cancer Program at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and pediatric cancer research at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope through ThinkCure, the official charity of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"The interview didn't generate any earthshattering news, though I did get some answers to questions I've had over the years. You'll see some of this when the article comes out in June."
Aw, man. You can't give us a tease of one of his answers? We promise not to tell Variety!
I assumed it was for SI.com. But how awesome would it be if Jon was interviewing Scully about some upcoming TV series he was to narrate?!
Great stuff. Sounds like lots of opportunities are popping up from you. Kudos to you and the great job you do here at DT.
vr, Xei
Like "Occasional Wife"?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMUtbDf1Lgg
572 From the last thread. My predictions for career highs in HR...
Loney 24 (in 2010)
LaRoche 31 (2012, Hopefully for the Dodgers)
Kemp 32 (2012)
Martin 19 (2007)
Ethier 25 (2011)
Vin Scully is kind of inpenetrable, psychologically. He is not a "me generation" type. He is a pro, and when he gets reflective, it's mostly to tell funny stories on himself. He's had all this adulation. He's experienced tragedy. He's met and engaged with prominent people, some of the finest people who've ever lived as well as some of the most disreputable. And it all seems to bounce off him.
I can't quite form the question articulately, so I'll form it inarticulately:
What has time done to Vin Scully? Aside from age, how do you think he sees the world differently from ordinary people?
How do "ordinary people" see the world...?
I think the hardest thing to do is to frame a question Vin would be willing to answer. I say this because I would want to know who Vin liked most over the years, who were the soul or heart of various teams over the decades, and who and what best captured what it is to be a Dodger.
When I hear his voice today I can still remember those summer nights in the back yard playing with my sisters while trying to listen to the game or plugging in the earpiece and listening while my parents thought I was asleep.
Just hearing his voice always takes me back to a much simpler time.
Living on the East Coast now I don't know anyone that has those kinds of memories of Vinny or the Dodgers.
Jon, thanks for creating this place where like minded fans can remember the past and hope for the future.
You did deserve it.
1982: "The Catch", NFC Championship Game (http://tinyurl.com/46wnwf)
1984: Jack Morris no-hitter on a Saturday NBC Game of the Week (http://tinyurl.com/5c92m6)
1986: "Behind the Bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!!!" (http://tinyurl.com/6m5zkh)
I forgot about "Bo Jackson says hello" in the 1989 All-Star Game. I seem to remember when Bo got the MVP trophy, Vin said something like, "for Vincent Edward Jackson, this is Vincent Edward Scully" or something to that effect.
According to the FIP statistic, a defense-independant statistic developed by Tom Tango and utilized by The Hardball Times, Baek had been getting better in each of his past three ML seasons (2004-2007), which goes hand-in-hand with our scouting evaluations.
Using statistics with scouting? Time to fire up the ol' stake...
I had a Dodger-Thoughts-has-infiltrated-my-brain moment last night. As I was flipping around the TV just before going to bed, I paused a few lingering moments on a movie called "Minotaur." I watched for a while but didn't see one rosin bag.
As for this team, the less said the better. I almost hope we get shut out tonight [against Zambrano, it may not be that hard to do] to highlight our need to take action. Obviously, LaRoche needs to come up; Sweeney needs to go; Young needs to start occasionally; and Kent needs to stop batting cleanup. Other than that, we just need to hope for Furcal to recover soon.
Does this team really have Tiffee, Wade, Hu, DeWitt, Maza, and Kershaw on it? Is it possible for an entire team to be obscure but memorable?
Seems like all the work at Dodger Thoughts has had a real positive effect on your career. I can't imagine when you started DT that you ever dreamed it would have resulted in such rewards.
This may seem strange but I'm incredibly proud right now. Beaming even. You are only 2nd to Vinny when it comes to making the Dodgers more enjoyable for those of us lucky enough to have found your outlet.
Can't wait for the interview, the video, and the book.
On the assumption that no one can visit just once, let me take a chance and say Hello, Mr. Scully! And thanks for what you do. You are truly one of my all-time heroes.
I'd like to ask Vin how Dodger fans have changed over the years. I'd like to get his long perspective about how baseball fan behavior reflects the state of American society. But that's just me.
31 - Never dreamed it would have any rewards, whatsoever. Everything has been a great surprise.
I still vote Andrew's gone soft.
Alexandria, Va: Hello Chico, I was at Sunday's game and to me the pivotal move was pinch-hitting Dmitri Young in the bottom of the ninth for Rauch--he came through with a key clutch single that put runners on first and third and set the Nats up for victory. All this after they blew a 6-0 lead. I thought that was huge. But I noticed that in your article about the game you focused on Dukes' walk that preceded that hit instead as the key event in that sequence. I thought it was interesting that Duke's showed a new level of maturity waiting on pitches, but I didn't think it was the key at bat that inning. Just wondering why you chose that at bat to focus on.
Chico Harlan: Good question. The season is so long, with so many games, that sometimes you're drawn not to what's most important, but to what's most interesting -- or most refreshing -- or most poignant. I found Dukes' contributing in that game to qualify on all of those counts. Here was a guy who'd had a miserable season stepping on home plate with the winning run and then getting mobbed. Dmitri has had tons of hits like that in his career, and for him, it was just another game. For Dukes, it was something more memorable. Sometimes, as a writer, you just have to follow the emotion.
The Minotaur looks very similar to a gigantic skeletal bull with huge horns. The Minotaur is covered in cobwebs from being in the labyrinth and is also a very fast runner
Thank you
That was something special, the three of them telling stories... basically the guys who created the southern California pro sports scene over the course of 40-50 years. What's weird is that Vin did stuff other than baseball and Chick did stuff other than basketball, hearing them call other sports was strange to my ear... but at the same time, it made perfect sense.
Today, Laker games aren't the same without Chick. And while we get a taste of Dodger games without Vin, it's still nice knowing that he's there for more than half the games.
He got the job based on a recommedation from Chick Hearn.
Chick and Vin were very different in the sense that Chick was at a time listed as Asst. GM for the Lakers and of course, he did "Bowling for Dollars." Vin also did a game show early in his career.
Jim Callis said in a Baseball America premium content article that scouts are not high on Aaron Hicks bat so he would view him as a pitcher instead of a potential two-way player.
Any comments?
you tell me
In fact there could be a whole series of DT nickname jerseys, the Bison, the Solution etc...
It wasn't until I subscribed to MLBtv this year that I have gotten to listen to Vin doing Dodger games. And now I get what all the fuss is about! To me, though, however, this is Year One of Vin, unlike so many of you who grew up listening to him!
From Sports Ticker
The Reds on Wednesday optioned the struggling Patterson to Class AAA Louisville of the International League.
A favorite of manager Dusty Baker, Patterson signed with the Reds in the offseason to start in center field. It was a curious move by former general manager Wayne Krivsky, who has since been fired.
Like I just savored your post.
Thank you for this site.
52 I am seriously contemplating getting a #54 Minotaur T-shirt. It's that, or a Kemp shirt.
I have met Vinnie twice (for a total of 30 seconds) and of course I remember both occasions well. The first time was when I was right out of college. My buddy and I drove across the country and stopped in DC. We were on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and there was Vin Scully striding towards us. (In retrospect, I really wonder what he was doing there. Testifying? Lobbying?) We were dumbstruck, and finally gulped out the words "Hello Mr. Scully." He replied, smiling, "Hi boys" and walked on. This was probably close to 30 years ago. The second time was a few years ago at a Dodger event in the Dugout Club. I asked him if he would ever write a book and he laughed and said no.
In my line of work I've met presidents and governors and so forth, but meeting Vinnie and (as a very young child) meeting former Chief Justice and Governor Earl Warren are my only two encounters with famous people that really stand out. Even as I write that I see how funny it is to put them on the same level. But it feels right to me, and I am sure that most of you would feel the same way.
Was it during football season? Vin could have been in DC to cover an NFL game and was just doing some sight-seeing.
The Angels and the city of Anaheim have been selected to host the 2010 All-Star Game, Commissioner Bud Selig announced on Wednesday.
But aren't they in Los Angeles?
The net of it was: he likes Kershaw better than every young pitcher he was asked to compare him to, including Hamels, Joba, etc...
He was very impressed needless to say. Stopped just short of the Koufax comp.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
Pierre, LF
Maza, 2B
Ethier, RF
Martin, C
Loney, 1B
Kemp, CF
DeWitt, 3B
Hu, SS
Lowe, P
How do "ordinary people" see the world...?
Not like you.
Charley Steiner?
Actually, I would probably pick Chris Roberts, the voice of the Bruins.
As another person reconnecting to Vin from afar via the internet tubes thanks for the great report.
Like, perhaps a question like "What direction would you have taken with this team at the beginning of the season?" or "Which players, either in the organization or around the majors, would you like to see filling roles on this team?"
Now of course I love Vin, and I know deep down that he has too much class to even attempt to answer those questions. But I can't help but think that he's the eyes and ears of a lot of folks who don't know much about the game, who would like to learn about how to build a winning team, or simply would like to understand why the team is where it is and what it needs to get over the proverbial hump.
Anyway, congrats to you on the interview opportunity, Jon. You deserve it, and I'm happy for you. I would feel the same way you did, had I been in your shoes. Not nervous, but definitely feeling a tremendous amount of anticipation.
Since he's been working for the Dodgers, the only stadiums in North America that have been the site of regular season games that he hasn't broadcast from would be:
Cashman Field
Wrigley Field (L.A.)
Aloha Stadium
Griffith Stadium
RFK Stadium
Nationals Park (the Dodgers haven't even played there yet)
K.C. Municipal
Sick's Stadium
And then I'm unsure about:
Tropicana Field
Citizens Bank Park
Great America Ball Park
I'm pretty sure he's called a game from the Metrodome and Exhibition Stadium. I'm also pretty sure about Cleveland Municipal and Progressive (formerly Jacobs).
Arlington Stadium is iffy. I know he's been to the current park, which is called Rangers Park.
Comerica Park is another tossup as is PNC.
At the very least, Vin did the 1991 World Series -- 4 games of which were in the Metrodome -- for CBS Radio.
"After Delwyn Young's pinch-single in the ninth inning Tuesday night, Torre might feel compelled to give Young a start at his former position of second base if Kent is unable to play Wednesday."
Trust in the Ch-i
vr, Xei
Stan from Tacoma
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